Fundraiser for migrant families goes viral

When Charlotte Willner saw the image of a crying 2-year-old watching as her mother was searched and detained along the US-Mexico border, Willner’s reaction was visceral.

She and her husband, Dave, have a daughter around the same age. They couldn’t imagine their daughter feeling that sheer terror.

Sometimes people say a picture is worth 1000 words. But that picture, by Getty photographer John Moore, is now worth much more than that.

It’s what spurred the California couple to launch a fundraising campaign on Facebook for the Refugee and Immigrant Centre for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), which pays the bail and legal fees of parents and children separated at the border.

They wanted to raise US$1500 ($2175), enough to help one family. But as of yesterday, that amount was at US$5 million.

The Willners are flabbergasted by the support — and heartened.

“Regardless of political party, so many of us are distraught over children being separated from their parents at the border,” Charlotte said. “We can’t all be on the front lines to help these families, but by supporting RAICES, we’re able to do something that just takes less than a minute, and collectively have an impact.”

According to the Willners, the average donation is just US$40. Private donors have also matched the first US$250,000. A well-placed post in Pantsuit Nation, an online platform that organises activists, gave the fundraiser its boost toward a million.

RAICES, with headquarters in San Antonio, has been on the front lines of the immigration battle for a long time. Jenny Hixon, RAICES’s director of education, outreach and development, said that although the zero-tolerance policy began in April, the detention centres and cage structures have been around for years. “The system isn’t set up for kindness, compassion or justice. Now that people know and people see, if they keep the pressure up, there is really a chance that we can change this.”